Raiders' Walsh says game's still the same

Published 4:00 am, Monday, July 31, 2006

To hear the Raiders' Tom Walsh tell it, an 11-year absence from the NFL doesn't mean he's completely disconnected from the nuances of the 21st century game.

Sure, a series of varied career paths, from software design to owning a bed-and-breakfast inn in Idaho, kept Walsh away from the sideline since his last NFL stint under Art Shell, which ended when both were fired by owner Al Davis after the 1994 season.

Walsh, in fact, hasn't coached since an ill-fated run as the head man at Idaho State (1997-98), which resulted in a 5-14 record and a midseason dismissal after starting 2-6 in '98.

Still, football hasn't changed, the Raiders' offensive coordinator said Sunday in his first interview since being hired in February. In his view, the plays and the players are no different from the time he learned the game under the tutelage of offensive guru Sid Gillman to now.

He's also confronting a game that has become more blitz-oriented, complicated and faster on defense. Who, for example, was running the zone blitz in 1994?

"There are a couple few wrinkles that change. People try to ... It's like serving chicken," said Walsh, who also had a seven-year run as a college football and NFL analyst for Westwood One Radio. "I mean, one day it's fried, one day it's grilled and the next day it's chicken Marsala, and the next day it's something else.

"But it's still chicken. They still got 11 guys out there. It's just a matter of the philosophies of the coaches. You go from there."

When Shell was re-hired by Davis on Feb. 13 to rescue a franchise that had gone 13-35 the past three seasons, the head coach did not hesitate one second when it came to choosing his offensive coordinator.

It would be Walsh, who favors the same between-the-tackles downhill running and stretch passing game that Shell advocates.

"It was Tom Walsh -- first," said Shell, who will allow Walsh to call the offensive plays from the press box, just as he did in their first coaching run together. "Because he knows the system that I love and he knows how to implement it.

"Between (him) and Freddie (Biletnikoff) and myself, we're putting the system together and getting these guys to understand."

Shell and Walsh have kept in close contact over the years, as Shell moved around the NFL as an assistant and a league executive in New York. At the same time, Walsh said he had done some consulting for college and NFL people.

"I'd visit with coaches in college. Staffs (would) bring me in or they (would) come out to the ranch and talk football and get on the white boards and all that," Walsh said. "So I've remained very close to the game in that respect."

In addition, Walsh said he also partnered with a coaching friend to develop a football game for Sega game systems.

All the same, he doesn't believe in what he calls the modern "joystick quarterbacks" who cannot improvise or think for themselves on the field. Or coaches who are too rigid to allow that type of game-day change.

"Too much of this era, of this age, has turned into where there are little 'technocrats' that are out there, coaching people like they're watching some video football. That's not what it is," Walsh said.

What do the players think of their new, and largely unknown, coordinator?

Left tackle Robert Gallery, who was activated from the physically unable to perform list and returned to practice Sunday with a healed quad muscle, said the gaping hole in Walsh's NFL resume doesn't concern him.

"If coach Shell hired him, he hired him for a reason," Gallery said. "I'm totally on board with coach Shell. If he hired, you know, Santa Claus, I wouldn't question it. Because he obviously has a reason for it."

Briefly: Davis made his first training-camp appearance in Napa, watching the team's lone afternoon workout. ... Jordan (bruised knee, quad) also returned to practice and looked strong in 11-on-11 drills. The team did not scrimmage. ... Safety Stuart Schweigert strained his groin, an injury Shell said did not appear to be serious. ... The flu bug, which appears to be something like a strep-throat infection, continues to keep safety Derrick Gibson sidelined and also now has struck tight end James Adkisson.